“Sketchbook” draws attention to Disney's animation artists
If you've ever dreamed of sitting down with a master animator to find out how they created the magic that was a part of your childhood, Sketchbook, the new Disney + limited series, will seem a lot like wish fulfillment.
Previewed today, the series examines the world of traditional hand-drawn animation through the eyes of the artists who create it. The series focuses on the techniques and personal lives of six artists who have made a huge contribution to the world of animation:
Famed animator and director Eric Goldberg draws The Genie from Aladdin and discusses collaboration with Robin Williams. Hyun-Min Lee draws Olaf from Frozen. Encanto artists Samantha Vilfort and Gaby Capili draw Mirabel from Disney's latest Oscar-winning film and Kuzco from The Emperor's New Groove, respectively. Animator Mark Henn draws Simba from The Lion King and visual development artist Jin Kim draws Captain Hook from Peter Pan. In short, it's all 2D animation lover's paradise.
The series has a very simple style that focuses on the artist at the desk while drawing and each animator fills in the background of his or her approach to drawing. Sometimes it's an unusual place for them, having disappeared behind their characters for so long.
“I think another thing I hope audiences get is the human aspect of the things that underpin all of our films and all the characters and everything,” says Lee. “I think I also mentioned in the episode: where I feel like I've done my best work is when people forget that I exist behind the characters. When they believe and love the characters for themselves. But I also think because there are so many things that are fast and digital and we take it for granted these days, I think it's also a wonderful way to show that there are only the people behind these things. "
Lee points out that this is the simple pencil line and pencil stroke. “It doesn't take anything that outrageous for these things to come out of nowhere,” he notes. It's just a simple pencil stroke that can start it. I have an 18 month old daughter right now and she is just starting to pick up a pencil and she only draws little lines but she still loves it. And I'd like to think that people who watch it can remember that you don't have to do much, just do what you want and put it on the page. Sometimes, just the beginning can turn into a character, or moment, or movie, or dream - or even, for you, just releasing all the stress of the day. It is enough to let people know that it is freedom, the human aspect and the love that underlies all this ".
One of the wonderful things about the documentary is that it's giving viewers hope that Disney will return to its 2D animation roots. As Goldberg recently told IndieWire, “I've been campaigning for a long time to train people in [hand-drawn] animation, and as CG movies have become more and more popular, that idea has become less and less. important for the study. But now we have an atmosphere and a group of people who recognize that it's part of the legacy here, and actually having content that requires hand-drawn animation is absolutely fantastic. Thank goodness we have people who can do both here, but really making a commitment to form a new generation is a wonderful thing and I think perfectly appropriate for [us].
Sketchbook is now streaming on Disney +.
Go to the source of the article on www.animationmagazine.net